boehner called that silliness. mr. boehner and other congressional leaders will head to the white house tonight for a holiday party, but there are no formal negotiations scheduled for the rest of this week. the president makes his case to state leaders tomorrow when several governors visit the white house. late this afternoon, the white house rejected today's republican counteroffer, saying it does not meet "the test of balance." one man who has been searching for that balance is erskine bowles, who, with alan simpson, is co-author of a deficit reduction plan that neither side has previously embraced. i spoke with him a short time ago. erskine bowles, thank you so much for joining you. late this afternoon john boehner, the house speaker, sent a letter to the white house in which he said he needed to find different middle ground on this fiscal cliff issue. he particularly cited your report which he described as providing imperfect but fair middle ground as a way of breaking this political stalemate. he's saying only the